Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Browns’ David Njoku Bracing for Punishment After Steelers Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 10:32 AM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 23-9 on Sunday, holding the visitors out of the end zone and improving to 4-1 behind a 235-yard, two-touchdown game from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The Browns managed just 248 total yards, led by rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. with 81 receiving yards on seven catches.

Early in the fourth quarter, Browns starter David Njoku limped to the locker room after sustaining what the team described as a thigh/knee issue. He finished the day with three catches for 28 yards on six targets before exiting.

What’s drawing just as much attention as the score, however, is a short video clip circulating on social media that appears to show Njoku — while walking down the sideline toward the tunnel — making an obscene gesture toward sections of Steelers fans.

Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85).© Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

The NFL enforces conduct rules for players and team officials. For on-field obscene gestures, the league’s game-day accountability listings and past fines show a typical player fine in the low five- to mid-five figures for obscene or "violent" gestures — figures in the neighborhood of roughly $11k–$15k are common.

For instance, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was fined $14,491 by the NFL after stiff-arming the Philadelphia Eagles' Cooper DeJean with a move deemed as unsportsmanlike and later labeled by the league as "an obscene gesture."

More recently, the NFL fined Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones $250,000 for an obscene gesture in which he seemingly gave the middle finger to New York Jets fans at MetLife Stadium.

Njoku’s disciplinary history is relevant, as he was previously fined $16,391 for unnecessary roughness against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14 of the 2023 NFL season, meaning he is not a first-time offender.

The Browns and the NFL had not issued any public disciplinary announcement about Njoku as of Monday, but if the NFL follows its recent pattern, expect a player fine in the five-figure range (not the owner-level $250k).

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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